Page 226 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

226

Our Plan

A ’Dar

I’ve been captain for less than two full days, but I need to step fully into that role. The best in the fleet taught me. I’ve never encountered anything like this. More people's lives depend on me than ever before—civilian lives—but I’m capable and motivated. I tuck Maya closer and proceed.

“Ran’Kin, status report on comms.” I don’t care that the medbot is still working on him. I’ve been injured worse in battle and continued to fight without treatment. We’re under attack and he can respond even though the bot is working on him.

“I’ve hailed on every frequency used on Xenon at the time we shipped out, including backchannels. I can’t raise anyone. I converted our computer’s text to Earther—”

“English,” Anna interrupts.

“English, and tasked Anna with research. She can’t discover anything about Xenon to either confirm or deny whether our species survived. We were always isolationists. I think the verdict is still out.”

“I want you to change your mission, starting immediately. Internal comms must be your first priority. I want to speak individually to every Xenon in possession of a comm, and I want the capability to make overhead announcements.”

“Aye, Sir.”

“Mel’Kan, report.”

“Machines aren’t meant to lie idle. Things go wrong without use. The AI II put all systems through their paces at the regularly scheduled intervals, but with almost two thousand years of inactivity, structural integrity was hard to maintain.”

“Talk faster,” I order. I don’t know why he’s hedging. But I need information and I need it now.

“It’s not our internal machines I’m struggling with, though. It’s the effects of the cerium electro-pulse.”

“Faster!”

“I’m working on it and I think it will be functional within hours.”

“You should have led with that,” Maya snaps.

I stroke my face, playing with my tusks in a way I haven’t since I was an unseasoned officer.

“If anyone has any thoughts, now is the time to offer them,” I say as I sort through options. Before I caught Maya’s scent, I would have assumed I could just order the males to do their jobs and they would perform them despite the pheromones they scented.

Now, though, knowing how powerful machta is, I don’t think I can count on my crew to control themselves no matter how clear my orders are.

“ Machta’s too compelling to override, right?” Maya asks.

“Aye.”

“What if you encourage it? What if you encourage your males to follow the scent that attracts them? Have them scoop up their female, then get to their stations. At least we could be ready for takeoff, even if half the crew are busily slaking their lust for sex and blood. You and I weren’t doing that the entire time, right? There were downtimes when you could have worked.”

As A’Dar nods, Emily pipes up. “Are you insane? You want to have a thousand women in the same shape we are?”

“I’m not the one who kidnapped them,” Maya snaps. “But I’m a realist. I always have been. And you are too, or you would be dead instead of having fangs and golden eyes. Am I right?”

Maya waits, staring her friend down until she gives a quick nod.

“These women can’t go home again. You know that. A thousand women disappear for a day or two and return confirming the existence of aliens? They saw a half dozen species in the white tent as well as the Xenons on this ship. They are living proof that aliens are not only aware of us, but are fucking with us. All they have to do is go back and describe these guys,” she points vaguely at the three of us males, “and the entirety of Earth will panic.”

She takes a tiny step away from me to give her two friends the full intensity of her stare.

“Life as we know it will cease to exist. The stock market will go haywire and industry will shut down at least for a while. No one will be able to buy food, the supply chain will be interrupted. You thought toilet paper shortages were a bitch? What will happen if the world stops spinning for a while?”

Her brow furrows deeper as she realizes the extent of the havoc that will happen if her people discover other sentient beings have visited her planet.

“Religions will go berserk. People will start wars over this. The government won’t let that happen. The first whiff they get of this, these women will be flown in black helicopters to Area 51, silenced, and stolen from their lives. And I think we would all agree whatever lies ahead of us with our mates will be a hell of a lot better than if we were 30 stories underground in a black ops facility.”

She spears Anna, then Emily with her most serious expression, and says, “If you didn’t look different, would you want to go back? Or are you bonded to your mates? If you could sneak back and not wind up in Area 51, would you want to return to your life?”

Even though she asked the question of her friends, she seems to give the question deep thought. I watch every expression on her beautiful face as my stomach clenches. Does this female care for me or not?

Anna and Emily both shake their heads.

“No, I wouldn’t go back for any reason,” Emily says as she steps closer to Ran.

“Me neither. I’m so attached to A’Dar I couldn’t leave him.” Her gaze darts to me and she gives me an affectionate smile.

“See? By the time we’re ready to leave Earth, half these women will already be in the bonding process. The others will wind up locked up if necessary. When this vessel takes off, it will carry 1,003 human women. Hopefully, most of them will be willing.”